ORPHEUS'S BLOG
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Sunday, March 25, 2007 8:29 PM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I go waaay back. One of my very first memories is my dad taking me to see the first movie back in 1990. I was 3. I don't recall the movie at all, I just remember that's what we did. The second movie is etched into my mind, as well.
I got that scar the morning before my family was supposed to see the movie. I was playing with a walkie talkie with a broken (and thus sharp) antenna. My dad decided to start rough housing with me, not knowing it was in my pocket. It fell out and sliced me right across the arm. We still went to the movie after leaving the emergency room, I guess to get my mind off what just happened. And I love them for it. I vaguely remember actually seeing the movie. I remember the theater (The Liberty Theater in Wilkesboro), I remember being there, but not the movie itself.
Thanks to VHS, I do remember the movies, and even today I love them, as goofy and weird as they might be. I really can't tell you why exactly I liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I was a kid. I don't know. I was a little boy and it was the first thing I latched onto. I can only assume that I first saw the cartoons, because otherwise why would I have cared about the movies? I do remember watching the cartoons, but I must've known about it before the movies. At any rate, I was a little boy, and that's what little boys liked, right?
This week marks the 17th anniversary of the first movie's release. Over those 17 years, the Ninja Turtles faded away and were replaced by a number of other franchises for me to be super-jazzed about. I discovered X-Men in 1992 (again, thanks to the cartoons), and Star Wars in 1996 (thanks, dad). Two properties that I'm still very much in love with, even after X-Men 3 and Attack of the Clones. In the meantime, the Turtles popped back up in a second cartoon series (in 2003), but it did little to pique my interest. Four years ago, I was far too busy becoming interested in filmmaking and digging into things like Lord of the Rings and R-rated action movies to really take notice. Plus, I was in high school. That part might have been the kicker.
Thankfully, they didn't give up.
Lately, I've been letting my inner 6 year old out to play a lot. Action figures, comic books, cartoons, I've really been going back to the well. And it's been fun. I've been enjoying the stuff of my childhood in a whole new light. I can enjoy things for their craft and for what they are, not simply because it's big and shiny and cool looking. And all that inevitably brought me back to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I honestly can't believe I'm about to say this. TMNT is one of the most absolutely entertaining movies I've ever seen. It was produced with people like me strictly in mind. The movie has the aesthetic of the current cartoon series, but follows the continuity and style of the original movies/comics. Now, I don't know much about the comic line, but I know enough to say that this is a pretty faithful version.
This isn't a reboot of the franchise, but rather a return to it. The movie takes place 15-20 years after the third movie, though it's really not definite as to how long. It's set in the present, so we can assume it's been a while. The Turtles, however, are still Teenage. They're not Early Adult Mutant Ninja Turtles. They're right there around that age where they start thinking about leaving the nest, and the hard truth of growing up, moving on, and getting a job is very much on their minds. So they're my age, which is perfect.
Leonardo returns to the Big Apple from a couple years of isolation in South America, and his family is kind of a wreck. While Donatello and Michaelangelo are out working for a living, Raphael is the only one still fighting the good fight. Leo's return causes more dissention in the ranks, and just in time for an evil billionaire (voiced by Patrick Stewart)
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